My first encounter with Jae Holdsworth was in 2005 at Long and McQuade, where I heard him playing the guitar. The little ginger teen surprised me, having good blues chops for such a young age. He would often jam in the store with his friend Wyatt Best, trading guitar licks. I invited the two to play a showcase for young songwriters at International Grounds, and over the years I have seen various punk and grunge shows featuring bands with Jae on bass or guitar.
Recently I attended a series of house shows hosted by Jae's mother at his childhood home in Stratford. I was impressed with the attendance, comprised of an unusual set of contrasting demographics -- what some may describe as gutter punks, travelling hobos, hipsters, and middle-aged women. Actually, middle aged women dominated the crowd to see a line up of artists in their early 20s with Jae as the main feature. Why? What made this show a cross-generational joy?
Jae plays a style of music blending folk, bluegrass, indie rock, and grunge. Strong melodies abound. He creates timeless organic music at its best. Certainly this had something to do with a proud mother inviting all her friends, and she had good reason to. Her talented son was home with an arsenal of newly-crafted songs. It was time to celebrate his musical growth.
Being part of this beautiful music moment inspired me to interview Jae. I wanted to hear the story of his colourful musical history attained by the budding age of 22. Having written or co-written over 100 songs (between several bands), Jae has a notable catalogue of music spanning various genres and textures. Over the years, I have watched Jae morph into various characters, but with music always at the core of his identity. I watched him go from a Blues Slinger, Punk, Grunge-Kid, Alternative and Psychedelic Rocker, to a Bluegrass and Folk aficionado.
This is a brief account of his story.
Jae started playing guitar by studying with Mike McConville, a luthier and guitar instructor who lived around the corner. Some of his early musicality was informed by his parents' record collection spanning REM, The Police and The Beatles. The summer between grade 8 and 9 was pivotal for Jae. Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix were introduced to him then, and his palette also grew to enjoy Nirvana, Misfits, The Germs and Iron Maiden.
Stratford Central Secondary School was a breeding ground for great young musicians. Jae met some early collaborators in Mr. Taylor's class, a teacher who hosted jams and showcases starring his students. There and in the halls, Jae met some of his future band mates. He reflects back to a show when he was 16, featuring the Darling Buds of May that included an all star line up of his musical friends. He thought it was funny that when the band took to the stage, it took half of the audience with it, as they were all members of the band. The other band on the bill — Dead City Rising — was taken aback. He liked that the show was friends playing for friends. In addition to Darling Buds of May, he spent time in bands called Milton, Slouch, Tempting Templeton, and The Rusty Hand Band.
Much of Jae's musical journey has been on the road, travelling North America. Asked where his travelling confidence came from he explains, “It came from music I was into. It glorified and romanticized that idea that sort of life style.” Jae claims he was once a fan of writers like Jack Kerouac and William Boroughs, who also romanticised a nomadic lifestyle and further encouraged his itch to travel. “They gave me the confidence that I could do it.”
Outside of some family trips to Europe, Jae's first major embarking was to the east coast of Canada. This began a travelling trend for Jae. His many travels have led him across North America where he met many musically inclined folks. They had a serious impact on his output and helped him to hone his musical chops. Jae explains in most cases, these nomadic folks travel light and therefore just have acoustic instruments. Consequently, the influence that began with Neil Young continued through these new travel friends, expanding his greater appreciation for folk, bluegrass and other acoustic genres.
Some of Jae's best music relationships were spawned in Louisiana, where he experienced one of his most musically and spiritually influential times, travelling back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans for two months. He went there during Mardi Gras. A whole slew of bands were out performing on the street and, because of the crowds, it was a lucrative time to make money. He got to watch and hangout with lots of musicians, generally choosing to play Rag Time and old-timey Bluegrass kind of songs. The whole atmosphere French Quarter of New Orleans was pretty different than anything he had seen in Canada.
Jae's travels have led him to enjoy a season in Halifax. Jae reflects fondly that his time in Stratford taught him to collaborate and jam effectively. Jae's keen understanding of musical chemistry was noted when Jae was busking with fellow Stratford native Thomas Lappano and friend Angie outside a liquor store. A man walked by and threw them a twoonie. He proceeded to shop and then left. They must have left an indelible impression on the man, because he soon drove back to the store and offered the group $80 and two bottles of wine to play his wife's birthday party. The group accepted his offer. At the party, they played folk music while the large group of 45-50 year olds danced away.
For Jae, moments like that mark small successes towards achieving his goal: to make a comfortable living making music and not having to work at a full or part-time job.
Another success came with selling a great recording Jae put out in December 2012 called Made No Sound. It was recorded at Wreford Communications' Studio South and produced by David Keeley. Jae explains, “David had a particular sound in mind, the idea was to sound like I was playing right in front of you.” Besides being the producer, David Keeley is long time fan and mentor, attesting, “The great thing about Jae is that he is fearless.” Jae was no stranger to the recording process, having his taste of doing recording sessions in some of the area's best studios with his bands; Milton at The Swamp and Slouch at Beach Road Studios.
You can listen to a few of Jae's projects online. You can find the Milton and Slouch recordings in full on youtube. Add him to facebook and message him to order his new album. Made No Sound is a stark contrast to many of his heavier projects. It is simply voice and guitar, with good melodies and great story telling.
His last show with Slouch is one of Jae's favourite musical memories. He describes, “It was such a huge turnout at Evergreen Terrace. One of the songs that we played is probably our heaviest songs and the crowd was going crazy, every body was going nuts. There was this one really heavy part in the song where it slows down like half time, it's really heavy, and right when it did that, everybody in the crowd started head banging at same time in unison and Dave, the owner of the bar, was crowd surfing and a bunch of other kids were crowd surfing.” Witness it here.
Jae also did a show opening for Lea Keeley at the Dominion House, drawing another astounding combination of multiple generations of music lovers. Lea recalls her feeling that night, “Jae is one of the most raw and real artists I've ever known. There is no BS with him. We all look up to him as artists because he knows who he is. And he doesn't care what other people think. He writes such honest music, you can help but listen.”
He must be doing something right.
Jae Holdsworth
article by Nathan McKay, photos by Jonathan Sippel
